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EIGHT NIGHTS by Jennifer Maisel

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Recommendations

  • Donna Gordon:
    14 Jan. 2020
    “ For those of us who have read about the Holocaust we can relate to the silences. Some memories are too horrific to tell. But here is another survivor who was willing to tell, even though it took her so long to gather her story from the painful fragments. I so enjoyed Rebecca's desire to look forward, rather than back, and the play's references to the neighborhood so long a part of this Jewish family. Lighting the Menorah brings light to any darkness that remains in this apartment inhabited for generations. ”
  • Jennifer Berry:
    14 Jan. 2020
    “ A stunning achievement! This play packs a powerful punch about generational trauma and how lives are shattered, repaired and broken open again. The web that Ms. Maisel weaves within one apartment represents a whole world of pain, longing and ultimately hope. This play also provides complex and powerful roles for women who, in spite of horrific circumstances, make long-lasting relationships that make a new home. Bravo! ”
  • Eric Rudnick:
    13 Jan. 2020
    “ This play makes achingly personal theatre out of monumental and shocking events. It is perfectly crafted, and a beautiful meditation on what it means to have a history, and to hold a memory. In this piece, the decisions made to share one's story or lock it away are acts of revolution in themselves. Maisel creates scenes and moments that had the audience hanging on every word from each of the sharply drawn characters. Ultimately, this is a moving testament to the courage, strength, and humanity that somehow still hold the world together. ”
  • Deb Hiett:
    10 Jan. 2020
    “ One of the most moving plays I've ever had the pleasure of reading. What is exceptional about Maisel's play is the deft touch with which she guides you through these intertwined lives. There is not a false note or pushed moment of exposition, or over-explanation. She trusts you to get it, to piece it all together -- so when you do, it absolutely takes your breath away. The audience is carried along by a masterful writer, on a powerful spiritual journey. I just loved it. ”
  • Ross Tedford Kendall:
    26 Nov. 2019
    “ A journey through the life of a Holocaust survivor, with the struggles and triumphs on full display. The playwright crafts a story that is deeply touching, yet not sentimental. Its power lies in the honest truth and the window it provides into one of humanity's darkest chapters, but still shining a light on the hope and future. This is a play that should go far. ”
  • Royal Shiree:
    3 Sep. 2019
    “ Beautiful generationally-woven stories of personal experiences as a family of Jews trying to survive through the horrors of camps and the struggle to heal from the past. Maisel manages to merge the spirits from the past to the lives of the present. Love is what makes this all possible. A wonderful spiritual journey delivered in the perfect definition of surrealism with language and temporal presence static enough to make one crave for more.

    A wonderful challenge for actors, directors, and an awakening for the audience.
    ”
  • Leigh Curran:
    1 Sep. 2019
    “ EIGHT NIGHTS is a very engrossing portrait of Rebecca, a Holocaust survivor and how the trauma she endured impacted her life after the war and the lives of her descendants. A thoughtful interweaving of past, present and future attitudes toward atrocities that encompasses the art of survival, the wisdom of hope and the gift of great, good luck. Rebecca is complex, haunted, caring, feisty and all too human. Jennifer tells her story with compassion, sharp insights and a keen eye for changing times and how we do and don’t change with them. Highly recommended! ”
  • Sarah Tuft:
    20 Mar. 2019
    “ EIGHT NIGHTS is a master class in “less is more” speaking volumes. The play examines family, heritage, and trauma in a lyrical portrait of ties that bind. How does trauma get passed down through generations even when actively guarded against? How does resilience, born of trauma, also get passed on, even if only subconsciously? Is it possible to move forward without looking back? These are the questions that Maisel asks in her stunning EIGHT NIGHTS. The play is brilliantly constructed, effortlessly engaging-- thanks to Maisel's character work and poetry-- and heart-wrenchingly beautiful. And so timely. World premiere this beauty now. ”
  • Alix Sobler:
    11 Oct. 2018
    “ This is a beautiful play that explores the way we are haunted by those we have lost, and the struggle to go on in the aftermath of trauma. Spanning 8 decades, Eight Nights represents generational trauma in form I have never seen before. When I saw a public reading of it, I was not surprised to see the audience leap to their feet at the end. ”
  • Donna Hoke:
    7 Oct. 2018
    “ EIGHT NIGHTS is a masterpiece of storytelling, a layered, character-driven saga that uses the story of one refugee's journey to illuminate our desperate need to learn from history instead of dooming ourselves to repeat it over and over again. Lyrical, poignant, moving, and frightening, EIGHT NIGHTS is a can't miss. ”

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